THE LAST TIME SHE SAW HIM by Jane Haseldine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So, this book made me a bit paranoid, which IMO is a sign of well-written suspense! THE LAST TIME SHE SAW HIM is Jane Haseldine’s debut novel, and also a fantastic start to the Julia Gooden Mystery series.

Julia is the mother of two young boys and a crime reporter in Detroit. In 1977, her 9-year old brother Ben was kidnapped, seemingly gone without a trace. Because of Ben’s mysterious disappearance, Julia is extremely overprotective of her own children, to the point where it’s put a strain on her marriage. Then the unthinkable happens – exactly 30 years to the day of Ben’s kidnapping, one of her sons is abducted. Could the two cases be related?

I enjoyed Julia’s smart, tough (yet flawed) character. This was a gripping, fast-paced mystery, with plenty of heart-pounding scenes. Perhaps not everything that happened was plausible, but overall this was an exciting read. Some unanswered questions at the end make me especially curious about the next book. {Borrowed from the library.}